Drew Dowdle

No Escape

First Hit:  It was an OK story with better than average acting.

The Dwyer family moves to a country bordering Vietnam (could have been Cambodia or Laos). Jack (Owen Wilson) is moving his wife Annie (Lake Bell) and two girls Lucy (Sterling Jerins) and Beeze (Claire Geare) to their new home because it is the only job he can get. The job, he believes, is helping the country’s water purification system and so he believes he's doing good for others.

On the first night, a coup breaks out killing the country’s Prime Minister. The ensuing chaos has the rebel citizens killing foreigners, especially anyone who is associated with the water company Jack works for. The rebels attack the hotel, killing almost everyone and now Jack and his family are in danger of being killed.

The rest of the film has the Dwyer family running for their lives and being assisted by Hammond (Pierce Brosnan) who is an English intelligence agent. The scenes of the streets and alleyways in this unnamed city are perfect. All of them had the right feel. Having spent a lot of time in Asia, I was happy to not see manufactured vistas or an inaccurate beautified view.

I thought the plot needed a little working, by providing a little more background of the coup as well as the Jack’s previous work. I did think the director created the right amount of intensity in this full movie chase. The most insightful scene to mark Jack and Annie’s relationship was when Annie, being sad and unhappy, tells Jack that she cannot help him feel better about their being away from their Austin home.

Wilson was good, although there were a couple of moments, I sensed his laissez faire persona creep through. Bell was superb. I thought she held the film together. Jerins and Geare were really good and realistic in their roles. Brosnan was amusing in his role and it worked. John Erick and Drew Dowdle wrote the script. As previously mentioned, I thought there were strong points and some missing background. John Erick Dowdle directed this films and given the probable limited budget did a great job of creating intensity.

Overall:  The film was entertaining and Bell was the strongest of the characters.

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